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Mathematical Treasure: Simson’s Elements of Euclid

Author(s):

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University)

The Scottish mathematician Robert Simson (1687-1768) wrote critical editions of revised classics. One such example of his work is The Elements of Euclid, first published in 1756, with Euclid’s Data added to the second edition in 1762. The 1834 American edition of this work is examined here.

The “Preface” supplies Simson’s rationale for writing the book.

A sample of Simson’s format and presentation:

The images above were obtained through the courtesy of the University of California Libraries. The book may be viewed in its entirety in the Internet Archive.